By the Rev’d Dr. Nancy D. Searby
Looking back over the past 12 years, I can see the Holy Spirit at work in my life. In 2014, I visited the village of Wilunze, Tanzania, with several people from St. Dunstan’s McLean and St. Mary’s Arlington. We peered out the windows of the van driven by staff of the Diocese of Central Tanganyika, Tanzania. We heard joyous music played on drums and sung, and saw gathering groups of soon-to-be friends. We were greeted with overwhelming joy, and I was overcome with the generosity and love I felt.
That moment, and that trip, planted an important seed as I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me, pushing me, towards becoming a deacon in the Diocese of Virginia; I was ordained in August 2023. And this year, my love of and commitment to global mission led to becoming the President of the Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEMN).
GEMN seeks to gather, inspire, and equip people to participate in God’s global mission. With core values of humility, inclusion, and companionship, the network includes dioceses, agencies, congregations, seminaries, religious orders, and individuals.
As GEMN President, I can apply my experience and gifts in systems analysis and strategic planning, as well as my love of Jesus and all people on our planet.
My dad served in the U.S. Air Force, and our family traveled around the United States and to Guam. Later I worked to strengthen the skills of people around the world to use NASA’s free satellite data for better environmental decisions. Throughout my life, I learned to serve and walk alongside, get to know and appreciate people with different gifts than mine, who come from different places and cultures. As I look back, I was preparing to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world, which is an important part of my diaconal covenant.
Deacons play a vital role in global mission by serving as a bridge between the Church and the world, proclaiming the Gospel in word and action, recognizing people’s gifts and responding to their needs, and promoting a “do with” rather than a “do for” approach to global engagement. The Diakonia reaches out to all persons created in God’s image and all of God’s creation.
Deacons serve in a parish as placed by the Bishop. As I serve with St. Francis Great Falls clergy and lay community, our love of God’s global mission is put into action through our relationships with the Diocese of Ezo, the Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and with the Sherborne Deanery’s Ezo Link team from the Diocese of Salisbury, the Church of England.
In addition to my role with GEMN, I serve alongside Diane Wright as one of our diocesan global mission advocates, and I’m our diocesan ministry partner for Episcopal Relief & Development (see https://episcopalvirginia.org/ministries/mission/). At this time when The Episcopal Church has downsized the staff engaged in global mission and has reduced the frequency of the Companions in Mission webinars from monthly to quarterly, I believe GEMN has an important role to play as we live into the global mission of God.
During Bishop Austin Rio’s sermon at the GEMN Missio 2026 conference co-hosted with the Diocese of California, he encouraged and inspired me: “Through the contexts and the communities where you’ve served, the gospel has taken on more flesh, and my guess is that in both the most soaring and revelatory moments of your ministry and the most alienating and difficult death-filled valleys, you have known the accompanying grace and peace of God that passes all understanding.”
Going on God’s global mission transforms us, and together with our companions in mission, we contribute to bringing about God’s “kin”dom.
- Curious about the diaconate? See our Deacons webpage and reach out to me or our archdeacons.
- Curious about St. Francis Great Falls’ relationships with the Diocese of Ezo and the Diocese of Salisbury? See our Outreach webpage.
- Curious about global mission in the Diocese of Virginia? Sign up to join our mailing list at our Global Missions webpage.
- Curious about GEMN? Sign up at our GEMN website and plan to attend Missio 2027, our annual mission conference to be held online April 6 – 8, 2027, with locally organized in-person gatherings of attendees. Stay tuned for the dates of the asynchronous Mission Formation Program.